Google Maps, A Great Tool for Finding Orlando Properties

       If you’re looking to buy a new home or investment property in Orlando, the first thing you should do is consult with an experienced Orlando Real Estate Professional. In addition to hiring a top Orlando realtor you can be doing some research on your own by using Google Maps. It has never been easier to obtain information about a property, like surrounding businesses, schools, etc. Google maps  becomes especially handy when you’re looking at properties outside of your area especially with the high cost of gas right now.

      The number one reason to utilize Google Maps when looking for a new home outside of your area is that it is free. All you have to do is log onto Google Maps and type in the address for the property you are considering purchasing. Instantly you will see a map view of where your home is located, complete with street names and some of the surrounding businesses.

      The great thing about the newest version of the maps offered by Google Maps is that you can often determine everything from the nearest grocery store to nearby schools. You can then click “directions” to quickly find the directions from the home you are considering and other areas of interest such as work, school, and shopping. How cool is that?

    Satellite View Feature

     Along with the map view of Google Maps, you can also click “satellite” on the upper right hand corner of the screen in order to see an actual satellite view of the area. Zoom in to see details such as the neighborhood layout. Plus, some addresses will even enable you to take a street view of the property providing you with a better idea of what your home looks like from the road.

      While utilizing the satellite feature, you can also determine the general neighborhood condition, including the upkeep of nearby homes. However, when opting for the satellite version of the map it is important to remember that it does not stream live so sometimes the maps are often rather old. All in all, Google Maps is a great asset when looking for a new home.

The Keep Your Home Short Sale

GOOD NEWS! …You Can Now Short Sale your Orlando property and stay in your home. HAFA  has developed a Short Sale Buy Back Program. Here are the main points:
The Non Profit Organization we work with makes a short sale offer on the home. The offer is for all cash.
The Non Profit will handle all the processing and negotiation of the short sale for the listing agent. This allows the listing agent to go out and find more listings. When the Orlando short sale is approved, the Non Profit buys the property. The former owners then lease the property with option to buy. The Nonprofit Organization will hold the property for up to three years. That should be enough time for the family, with help, to repair their credit so that they can qualify for a new mortgage. You can buy back the house at any point in those three years. Any and all appreciation is the property of the owner The HAFA Short Sale Buy Back Program is sponsored through a non-profit 5013-c in conjunction with Stabilization Home Affordability Revitalization Program.
For more information on the “Keep Your Home Short Sale” contact us for a free consultation

Homeowners Getting Paid By Lenders to do Short Sales in Orlando

    More and more lenders are paying financially strapped homeowners as an incentive to do a short sale on their homes.  Short sales are when lenders allow borrowers to sell homes for less than their unpaid mortgages. They are in most cases the best alternative to foreclosure. Short sales have been increasing for months, but the financial incentives are becoming more common.
     Chase Bank went national with short-sale incentive offers last year, paying up to $35,000 in some cases. Bank of America is testing incentives from $5,000 to $25,000 here in Florida to see if they should be expanded to more states. Wells Fargo's incentive offers range from less than $3,000 to $20,000.
     The truth is that Orlando Short sales, even with incentive payments to borrowers, can save lenders a lot of money compared with the expenses involved in completing foreclosures. Here in Florida where foreclosures go through the courts, 50% of loans in foreclosure are more than two years past due, according to research done from my past clients.
     It's a heck of a lot cheaper to shell out $10,000 or $20,000 to someone than it is to go through a long foreclosure. Banks are more willing to do short sales now than in the past. Cash incentives appear to be increasing over time. When a loan modification isn't possible, a short sale is usually a better and faster solution. Although lenders won't say how often they extend such incentives. Even if you have two sellers with similar situations, one might get it and another may not, It all seems to be very random. Typically, short sale incentives are more common for loans in states like Florida where foreclosures take more time.

Orlando Renters are Heating up the Local Market

As 2012 begins to kick into full gear, the real estate market is already heating up especially If you’re talking about rentals.  Renting has become the fastest-growing component of the overall Orlando real estate market over the last year, simply because fewer people are buying homes than they otherwise would in a good year. Falling home prices, incredibly-tight lending standards, and stubborn unemployment rates have all contributed to forcing the would-be buyers to the other side – renting.
        This doesn’t mean that renting is inherently “bad”, for many people, renting is the cheaper and wiser option. Especially if you’re renting a house for less than what your neighbor’s mortgage payment is for the same size house.  But for those who want to build up equity in a home, break free of a landlord once and for all, and purchase a home at severely-discounted prices, renting just will not do. Fortunately (or unfortunately), renting will have a big impact on buying and selling of Florida homes in 2012, perhaps even more so than in 2011.
      The fact is that the rental market across Central Florida as well as the rest of the nation will continue to improve as it did throughout 2011. In many metropolitan areas in particular, vacancy rates have plummeted and rental prices have risen sharply. This trend may taper off a tad, but more or less will continue throughout the year – meaning people will be paying more money to rent the same apartment in 2012 as they would have in 2011. If you’re looking for a great deal on renting or buying a house in Central Florida contact me.

It's Bound to be a Busy Year for Orlando Short Sale Agents

  I’m certain that we will see a steady flow of REO’s and Orlando foreclosures come on the market which is great news for buyers.  Orlando short sales will definitely continue to be a popular way for sellers to get their home sold when they owe more than their house is worth. This presents good opportunities for buyers to get pre-foreclosure homes before they go offline to linger in bankers’ files for months during the foreclosure process.
The combination of Disney World and warm weather year round is a huge magnet for world tourism which brings a certain amount of price stability that other markets just don’t have. Also, with new home construction basically at a “dead hault”, the existing Orlando area housing market is going to be very strong throughout 2012.
This means great opportunities for Orlando Investors. This also means more work for Orlando Short Sale Agents and pretty much anyone else who is an Orlando real estate professional.

The difference between a Short Sale Agent and a Short Sale Expert

 When it comes to doing an  Orlando short sale, many things come into play. One of the most important aspects of this particular home selling process is the agent that you choose. Your agent will be doing all of the negotiations for you with your bank as well as with the potential buyer; therefore, you have to trust your short sale agent.  In order to trust your agent, you should know important things about them before turning the steering wheel over to them when it comes to selling your home.  When picking an agent, it’s absolutely crucial that you do your research on that person.
             The first thing you should do is research the agent’s background and area of Expertise. The best way to research the company is to utilize online search engines. Simply type in the company or the agent’s name followed by “reviews.” Within seconds you should be able to find numerous reviews from previous clients that will help you to determine the reputation of the company in which your agent is associated.  Also, as with anyone that you hire, you should take into consideration the agent’s real estate experiences. You can also ask the agent to provide you with references, which you can call to obtain detailed information from previous Short Sale clients. References can provide you with the best information about what to expect if you need to do a short sale on your house.
            The problems occur when a homeowner hires an agent to do their short sale but the agent has never done one before.  Short sales are not easy and not all realtors have the skills, work ethic or experience required to be an expert short sale agent.  When homeowners make the mistake of not hiring the right agent for the job, the result can be disastrous resulting in your home getting foreclosed on.  If you’re in the market for a real estate agent that specializes in doing short sales do your research and find out everything that you can about the agent before making your decision.  You’ll be glad you did.

A Wrench gets thrown Into Florida’s Foreclosure Process

      In a very interesting case here in Florida, the 4th District Court of Appeals ruled that a foreclosure affidavit from a bank employee testifying to the validity and existence of original loan documentation on several Wellington, Florida foreclosures was hearsay because the employee had no first-hand knowledge of the documentation itself.

      In other words, when challenged to prove the existence of paperwork showing that the bank owned the loan and could initiate foreclosure, the bank instead got an employee to swear that he or she saw “computerized information” showing the documentation – without having any knowledge of the document, the original contract, or anything else related to the case.  Can you believe it?!

     This is pretty much the same thing as robo-signing, so it’s no wonder why the Court of Appeals decided to rule in this manner. To say that it has disrupted residential foreclosures in the state is an understatement, though, so it will be highly interesting to see what now comes out of a Florida we are already ridiculously behind on foreclosure processing.  I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Short Sales Fraud On The Rise In Florida

The incidence of fraud relating to short sales is expected to rise by 25 percent in 2012. The loss to lenders and servers is projected to be more that 375 million dollars. Unfortunately, Florida is one of the states that is most at risk.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation prosecutes mortgage fraud. Their definition is, “Any material misstatement, misrepresentation, or omission relied upon by an underwriter or lender to fund, purchase, or insure a loan.” The reason that short sales have become attractive to those wishing to perpetrate fraud is that the loans are held by the second lender without any equity. In order to make any money at all on the transaction, they must either receive a portion of the payment made to the primary lender, or be paid a fee by the seller. Sellers and buyers are often in a hurry to close, and so are susceptible to giving in to the demands of the second lender, especially if they are not supported with the knowledge and experience of a real estate professional.

One technique is the back-to-back closing, in which a property is resold on the same day as the original closing. For this to occur, there must be two unrelated contracts, one for the short sale lender and a contract with a third-party for purchase of the property. The contracts are processed in the reverse order, so that only the most alert Escrow agent will notice anything suspicious.

Some unscrupulous investors will list a property that they have no authority to list, at a price that is lower than a lender will accept as a short sale. The intention is to create a bidding war, select the highest bid while negotiating a low price with the lender. The investor then completes a back-to-back closing and keeps the difference.

Other suspicious transactions include those with a sale price of 10 percent or more higher than the prior, short sale price within less than a month; a sale price within three months that is 20 percent or more over the short sale price; and a transaction within six months that has a price of 40 percent or more than the short sale price. Some of these transactions are legitimate, when a buyer has had the revenue to undertake and complete improvements on the home.

Homeowners looking to purchase, as well as those looking to sell, a short sale property must be aware of the different types of fraud that are being perpetrated. Agents and other real estate professionals must be educated about them as well, because they are the best resource for protecting buyers and sellers from falling for fraudulent practices.

For the reasons described above, it is most often the junior or second lenders that are involved in fraud. All investors and lenders used should be assured as legitimate by checking their license status and reputation. An “arm’s length affidavit” should be prepared, which attests that there are no undisclosed agreements between any parties. This document is required by many primary lenders.